SL/R230: 2012 SL550 Paddle Shifters
02-10-2014, 12:08 AM
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SL550
2012 SL550 Paddle Shifters
Whats your guys experience with the paddle shifters?
My father and I do not do it all the time but ever now and then on a Sunday drive back home from golf my father and we will take a run at each other, ya know we might open them up a bit. Jeff might hit his car any where between 35%-60% throttle. What ever car I'm in I have to go WOT to stand a chance. We only do this a couple time a year in a safe environment we are familiar with.
My questions really is "is it bad to shift the 2012 sl550 early on the tack when going WOT. If I'm WOT and tell the car to shift to 2nd or 3rd or 4th or 5th at only 4 or 5 or 6 thousand on the rmp's is it bad for the trans and the car?
If you don't know anything about the above can you answer this?
Question
1.When going WOT, do you use your paddle shifters and if you do, do your shift before read line? if you do have your seen damage to your trans?
The reason I ask this question is, In a friends car (2008 european car) we always used the paddle shifers and kept the gas real heavy and we quickly had a torn up trans.
(WOT) Wide Open Throttle
Thanks Drew
My father and I do not do it all the time but ever now and then on a Sunday drive back home from golf my father and we will take a run at each other, ya know we might open them up a bit. Jeff might hit his car any where between 35%-60% throttle. What ever car I'm in I have to go WOT to stand a chance. We only do this a couple time a year in a safe environment we are familiar with.
My questions really is "is it bad to shift the 2012 sl550 early on the tack when going WOT. If I'm WOT and tell the car to shift to 2nd or 3rd or 4th or 5th at only 4 or 5 or 6 thousand on the rmp's is it bad for the trans and the car?
If you don't know anything about the above can you answer this?
Question
1.When going WOT, do you use your paddle shifters and if you do, do your shift before read line? if you do have your seen damage to your trans?
The reason I ask this question is, In a friends car (2008 european car) we always used the paddle shifers and kept the gas real heavy and we quickly had a torn up trans.
(WOT) Wide Open Throttle
Thanks Drew
02-10-2014, 07:44 PM
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2011 SL550, 2012 E550 Cabriolet
If you're using the paddle shifters, you're probably wanting to get the best performance you can get. Up shifting too early (short shifting) certainly won't give you better performance and it won't be as hard on trans either. What stresses the trans is torque and you will increase the torque subjected to the trans if you shift at a higher RPM. It's like anything; the more demand you put on a mechanical device, the higher the chances are of it failing. With a torque converter style transmission like we have in these cars and considering how the transmission is electronically controlled, if it were me, I would select "S" mode and just floor it. The computer does a good job at selecting the correct shift points. My personal opinion is that the paddles are meant to psychologically please the driver by emulating a DCT (dual clutch transmission) of which they are not. The paddles are more of a benefit for downshifting while entering a turn rather than upshifting because the computer does a fine job of that on it's own. The computer just doesn't downshift for you.
